As a book lover, it always amazes me how few students (and adults) have ever read a book cover to cover. I was observing a class this afternoon, and a number of the students there admitted they they had not read a book in its entirety since before 6th grade. At Goodrich Academy, that problem is partially resolved by the fact that all work is done in school, including reading. But, it is weird that so few people actually do read books completely. Your thoughts?
On the side of trying to help address this, here are some books I would highly recommend that I have recently completed (add your own):
The Martian by Andy Weir (way better than the movie)
The Girl From Venice by Martin Cruz Smith (I love his Arkaday Renko novels, but his stand-alone novels are even better).
The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly (You sort of have to read the whole Harry Bosch series to get into them)
Coffin Road by Peter May (May is an excellent crime/suspense writer whose best work is set in the northern islands of Scotland)
On the side of trying to help address this, here are some books I would highly recommend that I have recently completed (add your own):
The Martian by Andy Weir (way better than the movie)
The Girl From Venice by Martin Cruz Smith (I love his Arkaday Renko novels, but his stand-alone novels are even better).
The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly (You sort of have to read the whole Harry Bosch series to get into them)
Coffin Road by Peter May (May is an excellent crime/suspense writer whose best work is set in the northern islands of Scotland)
I too struggle with the idea of students not reading books as often as they should. It seems that any reading a student does will be mandatory and not leisurely. This unfortunately stigmatizes the entire idea of reading, something that does not have to be grueling but relaxing and even intriguing. With technology to take up most of the (little) free time that students have, their novels and library books end up untouched. I fall victim to this problem, never finding time for myself to read. I always look forward to Summer or Winter breaks where it may be possible to open a book of choice, thanks for the recommendations!
ReplyDeleteHowever this rises a good question for teachers- how can we assign reading that students will actually like to do? Perhaps we can incorporate some really "enjoyable" books into our classes. An example of a book that I enjoyed was one required by the Holy Cross Montserrat program for the entire freshman class, An Invisible Thread. This was a book for class that I found myself yearning to read. Shouldn't all books have this effect on students? How can we get them to read without assigning twenty minutes per night as they do in elementary school?